Ex-Liverpool star claims Jurgen Klopp will return to management much sooner than expected

Jurgen Klopp plans to take a year away from football when he steps down as Liverpool manager at the end of the season, but former Reds star Ryan Babel believes he will be back much sooner

Jurgen Klopp has been tipped to return to management “within six months” after he departs Liverpool at the end of the season.

Klopp is set to step down as Liverpool boss after almost nine years at the helm, having stated that he “will not manage a club or country for at least a year”. He said: “If you ask me now if I will ever manage again, I would say no.

“But you don’t know obviously as I’ve never had this situation. But I do know definitely I will never manage a different club in England than Liverpool. It is impossible. I will find something else to do. But I will not manage a club or country for at least a year.”

However, former Reds star Ryan Babel believes Klopp will “get bored” and want to return much sooner. ” Jurgen Klopp will probably go away to a lot of holiday destinations, drink some beer and spend some quality time with his family,” Babel exclusively told Ladbrokes Fanzone.

“He’ll try to release all the stress, in a good environment with his family, before he inevitably goes back to work. Judging from the outside, and knowing Jurgen Klopp, he’s far from done. I think he’ll get bored within six months and he’ll want to work again.

“The question, then, is, where does he go? There are not many teams, in my opinion, who deserve Jurgen Klopp. He’s a coach who needs to be accepted for who he is. He’s someone who needs time to completely express his way of playing.

“So, with that being said, while I would love to see him be successful with a team like Real Madrid, we know that Real Madrid are not a team who are going to give him two or three years to eventually show the football that he wants to play.

“So, I don’t think Real Madrid deserve him. Even a team like Bayern, you know, they don’t have a lot of patience for managers. There are rumours that he might coach the German national team… I don’t know about that. But I think he’ll definitely surprise a lot of people.”

Feyenoord boss Arne Slot is set to replace Klopp at Anfield, with Liverpool having now agreed a compensation package worth an initial £7.7million plus a further £1.7m in add-ons. And Klopp has given Slot a ringing endorsement, saying: ” I like the way his team play football.

“All the things I hear about him as a guy, a good guy. Some people I know know him, I don’t know him yet. Some people tell me that he is a really good guy. I like that a lot. Good coach, good guy. Looking forward for the club if he is the solution or the man. I’m more than happy.”